Tear strip guide and shield



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Aug. 27, 1957 W. W. OFFUTT TBAR STRIP GUIDE AND SHIELD Filed Nov 22, 1954 INVENTOR William W019? Z6 it ATTORNEYS TEAR STRIP GUIDE AND SHIELD William W. Otfutt, Rockville, Md.

Application November 22, 1954, Serial No. 478,416

6 Claims. (Cl. 220-52) This invention relates to a tear strip guide and shield which is particularly adapted for use in opening sealed containers by winding a strip portion of a metal container upon a key.

The use of sealed containers which are opened by winding a strip portion of the container upon a key is quite conventional and increasing numbers of various products are retailed in containers of this type, since the tear strip provides a positive seal and allows the can to be vacuum packed. Probably the most familiar example of a container of this type is the ordinary one-pound can which has been adopted by many of the major colfee concerns. While the key and tear strip provide a very practical manner of opening such cans, a reasonable degree of dexterity and care on the part of the user is required, especially where a fairly long strip of material must be wound upon the key. One of the major difiiculties encountered is the tendency of the coils which are wound upon the key to slip out of alignment and thus make the winding operation difficult to perform. A further problem encountered is that the edges of the tear strip are very sharp and therefore dangerous to the person who is opening the can.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a tear strip guide and shield in which the coils of the tear strip which are wound upon the key are positively maintained in alignment and, at the same time, shielded from the hands of the user.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a tear strip guide and shield which automatically maintains itself in the most efilcient relationship relative to the can while being used.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a tear strip guide and shield which is easily manipulated and is positive in operation.

These, and other objects, are accomplished in a tear strip guide and shield which may be formed from two pieces of sheet metal and assembled by means of a pair of rivets. The first element of the tear strip guide and shield is a hollow body of generally rectangular transverse cross section. The base of this hollow body is formed with a tear strip receiving opening through which the tear strip passes to the interior of the hollow body as it is wound upon the key. On each of the sides adjacent the base, a key receiving slot is located which opens into the tear strip receiving opening and extends approximately halfway across the side in which it is located. A key retaining member is pivotally mounted upon the sides beyond the ends of the slots and consists of a U-shaped element which straddles the hollow body on the side'opposite the base. The legs of the U-shaped key retaining member frictionally engage the sides of the hollow body in a degree suflicient to maintain the key retaining member in any position to which it is moved relative to the sides of the hollow body. The lower ends of the legs of the U-shaped element extend to the open end of the key retaining slot. A notch is provided near the lower end so that a key placed in the key retaining ice slots may be held adjacent the closed end of the slot by means of this notch. With the key maintained in the slot in this manner, the tear strip is removed from the can by winding the key. As the tear strip is removed from the can, it is Wound upon the key within the hollow body and thus completely shielded from the hands of the user. Since the key retaining member holds the key firmly Within the hollow body, both of the users hands are free to hold the can and rotate the key. The conformation of the tear strip receiving opening is such that the tear strip guide and shield is maintained in alignment with the tear strip to be removed.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the foilowing specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the tear strip guide and shield located with respect to a can which is being opened and showing a portion of the tear strip of said can removed;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the device shown in Fig. l and taken on line 33 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a view of the sheet metal blank from which the hollow body is formed.

The construction of my tear strip guide and shield may be best appreciated by a description of the manner in which it is assembled. In Fig. 4, the blank from which the hollow body member of the unit is formed appears. The blank 2. may be stamped or shaped from sheet metal or any other suitable material and has a relatively large portion shaped in the form of a rectangle with rounded corners. From the narrow side of the larger rectangular portion, an elongated tab 4 extends. The larger rectangular portion is divided, in Fig. 4, by dotted lines, into three areas which will be referred to as base surface 6 and opposed side Walls 8 and 8. Blank Zis formed with an opening 10 which extends across the entire central portion of the base 6. The opening 10 is extended outwardly as at 12 and 12' approximately halfway across the respective opposed side walls 8 and 8 from the juncture of these surfaces with the base surface 6. Holes 14 and 14' are located between the ends of opening extensions 12 and 12 and the free edge of walls 8 and 8'.

To form the hollow body member of my tear strip guide and shield, the blank 2 is bent along the dotted lines in Fig. 4 so that the walls 3 and 8 are disposed in parallel planes which are at right angles to the plane of base surface 6. After the opposed side walls 8 and 8' have been disposed in this manner, the elongated tab 4 is bent so as to lie between the opposed side walls 8 and 8' along the free edge of these walls and may, if desired, be secured thereto as by brazing. The final location of thetab 4 is shown in hidden lines in Fig. 1. The assembled hollow body which is formed in the manner described above thus has a base 6 which has a tear strip receiving opening 10, and opposed side walls 8 and 8' which have key receiving slots 12 and 12 respectively for the reception of a container opening key. The key receiving slots 12 and 12 open into the tear strip receiving opening 10 and allow a can opening key 16 to be easily inserted into the slots 12 and 12 from the base side of the hollow body.

In order to retain the key 16 within the slots 12 and 12, a key retaining member 18 is pivotally mounted as by rivets 20 and 24) which pass through holes 14 and 14' in opposed side walls 8 and 8 of the hollow body. As seen in Fig. 2, key retaining member 18 is a U-shaped element having legs 22 and 22' which are connected to i one another by a bridge portion 24 which straddles the hollow body outwardly of surface 4. Legs 22 and 22' maintained in any positionto which it is moved bythe user. The distal ends of legs 22 and 22 are notched as at 26 (see Fig. 1) so that key retaining member 18 may be pivoted to the position shown in Fig. l to maintain key 16 within key receiving slots 12 and 12'. Key retaining member 18 may be pivoted counterclockwise from the position shown in Fig. 1 so that key 16 may be inserted or withdrawn from slots 12 and 12'.

The operation of my tear strip guide and shield is as follows. The key 16 is engaged with the end of tear strip S of can C. After tear strip S is engaged with key 16, the key and the associated strip are placed within the hollow body with the shank of the key extending across both slots 12 and 12' and the strip S entering the hollow body through tear strip receiving opening 1%). Key retaining member 18 has, of course, been pivoted to a position to permit the insertion of key 16 within slots 12 and 12'. After key 16 has been inserted into the slots in the manner described above, key retaining member 18 is pivoted to the position shown in Fig. 1 whereby the shank of the key is engaged within notches 26 in each of legs 22 and 22' of key retaining member 18. With key retaining member 18 in this position, removal of the key from the slot is prevented and the edges of the notch provide a fulcrum or support for winding movement of the key. Since the key cannot be withdrawn axially from the tear strip guide and shield because of its engagement with the end of tear strip S, it is not necessary for the user to hold the tear strip guide and the user may use both hands for manipulation of the key and holding the can C. Winding movement of the key rips the tear strip from the, can and the removed strip is drawn within'the interior of the hollow body as the key is wound. The interior width of the hollow body is substantially the same as the width of the strip which is removed "and thus the coils of the tear strip are kept in alignment as the strip is removed from the can. At the same time, the cooperation of my tear strip guide and shield with the removed tear strip maintains the proper alignment of the device with the can and the unremoved portion of the tear strip. Since the removed portion of the tear strip is at all times disposed within the hollow body, there is no possibility that the users hands may come in contact with the removed strip and the sharp edges of the removed strip cannot cause injury to the user. After the entire strip has been removed, the key retaining member 18 is pivoted counterclockwise from the position shown in Fig. 1 and the removed strip, together with the key, may be dropped through the opening into a waste receptacle. Thus, the only time at which the users hands need touch the tear strip is during the operation of initially engaging the key with the tear strip.

While I have illustrated but one embodiment of my What I claim as my invention is:

1. A tear strip guide and shield for cooperation with a container opening key comprising a hollow body having a base and a pair of opposed side walls extending upwardly from opposite edges of-said base, said base having a tear strip receiving opening extending across said base from side wall to side wall, said opposed side walls each having a keyreceiving slot extending upwardly from said opening, and a key retaining member mounted upon said opposed side walls for retaining a key in said slots. p 7 i 2. A tear strip guide and shield for cooperation with a container opening key comprising a hollowbody having a base and a pair of opposed side walls extending upwardly from opposite edges of said base, said base having a tear strip receiving opening extending across said base from side wall to side wall, said opposed side walls each havingYa key receiving slot extending upwardly from said tear strip receiving opening, a key retaining member having a pair of legs frictionally engaging respective opposed sidewalls and means for mounting said key retaining member to selectively retain or release a container opening key within said key receiving slots.

3. A tear strip guide and shield for cooperation with a container opening key comprising a hollow body of one piece construction having a base, a pair of opposed side walls extending upwardly from opposite edges of base; said base having a tear strip receiving opening upon said hollow body to selectively retain or to permit invention, it will be apparent that the disclosed embodi- Therefore, my disremoval of a container opening key within said key receiving slots. 7

4. A tear strip guide and shield as recited in claim 3 wherein said key retaining member comprises a pair of legs which frictionally engage the respective outer surfaces of said opposed side walls.

5. A tear strip guide and shield as recited in claim 3 wherein said key retaining member comprises a U-shaped member bridging said side walls and having a pair of legs which frictionally engage the respective outer surfaces of said opposed side surfaces.

6. A tear strip guide and shield as recited in claim 5 wherein said key retaining member is pivotally mounted on each of said opposed side walls between the ends of the respective slots and said closure member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 933,230 Carter Sept. 7, 1909 2,680,537 Dzialdowski u. June 8, 1954 2,708,530 Patterson May 17, 1955 

